Eye on India: Shock and Sorrow in Kolkata
The brutality of a widely reported incident at a Kolkata medical college, where a young trainee doctor was gang-raped and murdered, was disturbing—but so was the callous response. What can we do about it in this country, and how can we stop such incidents?
By now most of us are aware of the tragic rape and murder of a trainee doctor at R. G. Kar Medical College in Kolkata, which took place on August 9, 2024, just a few days before Indian Independence Day. In this age of the internet, details are not difficult to come by—and they are horrifying and heartbreaking. At the end of a long and grueling shift of medical duty, Abhaya (as the young doctor is now called) went to rest in an empty seminar room in the hospital—since there were no safe spaces there for women to rest. She was found dead the next morning with multiple wounds. At first, authorities tried to pass this off as suicide. However, the coroner’s report declared that evidence clearly pointed to gang rape and torture.
The incident has sparked outrage all over the nation—and even abroad. On the night of August 14, when the nation was poised to celebrate 78 years of freedom, there were protests all over India. Women of all ages, from eight to eighty, came with lit candles and burning torches to honor Abhaya, to call for justice and to “Reclaim the Night.” To point out that, for them, independence was just a word, not a true experience. It was heartening to see that many men joined these protests. Medical students and doctors, too, protested across the country, and the Indian Medical Association as well as the Federation of Resident Doctors Association went on strike.
On World Photography Day, August 19, photographers from all over India posted photos of the protest marches and calls for justice. Celebrities voiced their anger and sorrow. Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ayushmann Khurrana, Alia Bhatt, Sara Ali Khan, and Vijay Varma, among others, expressed their grief at this event through emotional statements and poetry. Alia Bhatt’s Instagram statement reminded viewers that over a decade had passed since the inhuman gang-rape in Delhi of the woman known as Nirbhaya, but that nothing has changed regarding women’s safety. In fact, statistics reveal that crimes against women have increased every year.
Due to widespread accusations that the local police and government were ineffective in handling the case, the matter has now been transferred to the Supreme Court and the investigation is being conducted by the Central Bureau of Investigation. But apart from one man—a volunteer with the Kolkata police force—who was apprehended, none of the other criminals have been found.
Additionally, it is a huge failure and a deep shame for a culture where so many millions worship goddesses (even in this devastating case, many are whispering that Abhaya should have been more careful).
Can we, living halfway across the world, do anything about this terrible crime? To make the world a safer place for women? To change the social attitudes that place the weight of blame for such crimes on the victim rather than the perpetrator?
Yes, we can.
Today, we can raise awareness, each one of us, male and female, by informing and educating our circles—friends, family, work colleagues, cultural organizations we are part of—in appropriate ways, about this particular tragedy and also about 
violence against women in general. We can raise consciousness about the fact that, according to the World Health Organization, 30% of women all over the world experience sexual violence. We can demand more safety for women in our workplaces and in public spaces—in our city and in our state. We can speak up against jokes about domestic violence and related issues when we hear them.
Photo: Arjit Kisku
Today, we can raise our daughters to stand strong for their rights so that they do not feel that, if a crime is committed against them, they are somehow guilty. We can teach them to speak out if they are victims of violence or sexual abuse. We can assure them that we will listen to them and stand by their side and not blame them or shame them. And equally important: we can raise our sons to support the women in their lives to achieve all these things.
Today, we can join and support organizations fighting for women’s safety here in India and the U.S. and support and amplify their voices. Organizations such as Maitri and Narika in Northern California, Daya in Houston, AFSSA in Austin, Sakhi in New York, Saheli in Boston, Raksha in Atlanta—and many like them. Most of these organizations have issued statements against this terrible crime.
Today, instead of using our social media for entertainment, viewing celebrity videos and the latest fashions, or posting our vacation photos, we can make it an agent of change. We can post and repost incidents such as this. We can put forward our own statements or amplify those of others fighting for justice.
We each have a voice—let us use it so that the tragic deaths of Nirbhaya, Abhaya, and many other unnamed women are not drowned in the abyss of apathy and forgetfulness. Let us do it now!
Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, an award-winning novelist, poet, and professor of creative writing at the University of Houston, is the author of numerous books, including The Palace of Illusions, One Amazing Thing, and Independence. A long-time activist in the fields of domestic violence and education, she has also written books for children.
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